Small Space Solutions: Liyam's Nursery Nook in the Dining Room

When Sarah and Oren, who live in a 1-bedroom apartment, were expecting their son Liyam they knew he wouldn't have his very own bedroom, but they still wanted to create a dedicated nook to use for changing his diapers and clothes. Voila - Liyam's mini nursery in the dining room!

Sarah shares:

Neither one of us is into traditional baby stuff, so we tried to create a sort of urban/modern feeling with a healthy dose of playfulness. Our favorite component is the San Francisco skyline, which we designed and built ourselves (thanks to Oren's incredible woodworking skills). A shelf on top holds Liyam's tiny shoes and the front opens up to reveal extra storage space for wipes, burp cloths and other sundries.

We found the bureau for $30 at a thrift store. It had good bones but needed some hard core cleaning, sanding and drawer un-sticking before we could prime and paint and paint and paint and polyurethane it. The red paint is called "California Poppy," which is awesome, and the drawer pulls are matchbox cars that we spray-painted silver and attached to screws—even more awesome. The spaceship print is by local artist Nidhi Chanani, who we discovered at a local street fair... I believe this was one of the very first things we bought for the baby.